Love and Honor

Annoyance: A state I do not find myself in too terribly often.

A state in which I have remained incessantly this week.

A state completely opposite of mutual affection and honor.

I have been thinking about ways to show mutual affection to others this week and ways to outdo one another in showing honor.

I was too busy to do any of them. Too tired, too stressed, too structured.

I made excuses — told myself I would do better tomorrow, and spent each day doing exactly as I planned without any real need to care for others.

I would go to the SDR for dinner and inform someone of yet another annoying statement out of the mouth of the one person who I found more irritating that any other this week. I complained about him with a passion to anyone who knew him well enough to understand but not well enough to tell him.

I rolled my eyes at friends for behaving in a way I found unsatisfactory. I grew irritated with girls who hung up signs a day late. Mocked girls who had bad ideas. Gossiped about friends who I felt were inappropriately affectionate with their significant others at a party.

I did nothing out of mutual affection, failed completely at showing honor.


Usually at this point, I tell some wonderful story about turning things around, about my one redemptive action.

Not today.

Today I admit I failed. Today I learn humility through failure and hope earnestly that I may learn what it means to love others truly and full-heartedly. That I may show honor to those around me, even when it is inconvenient.

Lord, teach me how to love like you do. May I exude your presence, your love, your passion for people. May I continually stand in awe of your amazing works and worship you in words and actions. May I humbly bow before you broken and dirty, knowing that you hate my sin, but have punished it already and will receive me, cleansed in the blood of Christ. Amen.